For Worcester State, name change costly

Saturday

Jun 23, 2012 at 2:45 PMJun 23, 2012 at 9:58 PM

By Shaun Sutner TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

When supporters of changing the names of the former Worcester State College and the five other former state colleges to state universities advocated for the identity makeover, they argued that the expense would be nominal.

But it turned out there were significant costs, not only for the name change, but also, at Worcester State University, for a recent “rebranding” effort that included a logo redesign and new marketing campaign that involved dumping the school's local advertising agency and hiring a Boston agency at twice the cost.

Starting in 2010, a few months after state lawmakers approved the new name, Worcester State spent $263,610 in capital funds to switch over nearly every sign and other insignia on its campus, from dozens of small traffic signs on campus roads to the large, internally illuminated signs in front of the school, according to purchasing records.

After incurring those costs, the board of trustees hired a new president, Barry Maloney, and soon embarked on a new $329,000 market research and publicity offensive to transform the image of the university and give it both a more modern graphic “look and feel” and a new marketing tagline, “Changing How the World Works.”

At a time when tuition and fees have been rising steadily each year, critics say the money would have been better spent at Worcester State on improving academic programs and building up the faculty ranks.

“Fees are going up, and we're changing the logo again,” said Daniel Shartin, president-elect of the faculty union. “I wonder if parents who are footing the bill for their kids' education and see fees going up, what they think about the new logos.”

John P. Brissette, chairman of the trustees, said school officials considered rebranding at the time of the name change, but the school was in the midst of a presidential search at the time.

“I didn't want to stick a new president with something he didn't like,” Mr. Brissette said.

And while officials of some other state universities said they anticipated the name change — which had been debated off and on for at least a decade but picked up momentum in the late 2000s — Mr. Brissette said the school was under pressure to change the signs quickly after lawmakers passed the measure and the governor signed the bill in July 2010.

“I understand the timing, but we were at the mercy of the Legislature,” he said.

Mr. Brissette also said he approved of the college's change of advertising firm, from Worcester-based Davis Advertising, to Fuseideas of Boston, which entailed a doubling of the monthly retainer cost from $6,000 a month to $12,000 a month.

School officials say Fuseideas was chosen, in part, because of its expertise to conduct a thorough “environmental scan” of the views of students, professors, faculty members and others on campus about the school's image, and its ability to analyze the effectiveness of marketing efforts, particularly on the Web and social media.

Across the state, the other state universities handled the name change in a range of different ways.

At Fitchburg State, where President Robert Antonucci testified before lawmakers that the cost would be no more than $50,000, the school spent $135,000, but kept its old logo and has moved gradually to change over signs, according to school officials.

For example, an iconic smokestack on campus that had just been repainted before the name change still bears the inscription “Fitchburg State College.” “It's painted to be protected, not to be a marketing tool,” said university spokesman Matthew Bruun.

Other schools could not immediately produce the cost of their name changeovers.

A spokesman for Framingham State said the school recently changed its logo but is replacing signs with the new logo on an as-needed basis. Salem State kept the logo it developed in the 1990s and kept many of its signs that read simply, “Salem State,” according to a spokeswoman. Westfield State did a rebranding before the name change, and many of its signs still say “Westfield State.” Bridgewater State officials did not respond to several requests for information.

Worcester State officials declined to make Mr. Maloney, the president, available for this story.

However, Lea Ann Scales, assistant vice president of sales and marketing, said the cost of the sign change was relatively small compared to other capital investments, such as, for example, the school's $500,000 share of a new baseball field.

And, she said, the marketing campaign, particularly, is a worthwhile expenditure because it will help make the school's recruitment efforts more competitive in a tough economy and in a period when the number of college-age students is expected to drop dramatically in coming years.

“Getting the story out takes money. It's a great investment,” Ms. Scales said. “The focus of our campaign is really to express the quality of our faculty and academic rigor here. The old logo speaks to tradition and a sense of value. What I like about the new logo is it harkens to our past but also looks to the future.”

The logo — a deep blue seal based on an updated version of the president's traditional seal and the old logo featuring the administration building's old picture windows — has not been shown publicly yet because school officials plan to roll it out for the first time in a fall media campaign.

Officials now say they do not plan to change all the signs a second time to include the new logo, although when first contacted for this story two months ago, Ms. Scales said signs would be changed as needed.

Only one or two of the biggest signs on campus, those in front of the main administration and classroom buildings, will be changed, Ms. Scales said. Also, signage with the new logo will also be installed at the new $45 million “Wellness Center” expected to be open in 2015 and at a new dormitory and dining hall scheduled to open in 2014.

As for stationery and other printed materials, school officials said employees were instructed to use up old material before ordering new ones with the new name and new logo.

One critic of the original name change, state Rep. Kevin Murphy, D-Lowell, former chairman of the House Education Committee, said he isn't surprised at the amount Worcester State spent to change its signs.

“Why didn't they spend $265,000 upgrading the science program rather than putting up signs saying Worcester State University?” he said. “It's stupid.”